


Married by Forty (4) - Waltzing Matilda

by Fleppy85



Series: Married by forty [4]
Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:48:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24997855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fleppy85/pseuds/Fleppy85
Summary: Sofia and Sara are on holidays in Australia
Series: Married by forty [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1809649





	Married by Forty (4) - Waltzing Matilda

Part 1

Something hard hit Sara in her kidneys and she moaned. What the hell was that? She had just closed her eyes for a few seconds and suddenly this pain.  
“I can see the Opera House.”  
“You’re not into operas.”  
“I mean the Sydney Opera House, stupid!” Sofia almost jumped on her seat. Only the seat belt and the lack of space stopped her a little bit. The world famous Sydney Opera House. There it was. So close.  
This trip brought them far away from home. Sydney. It was the benefit of Sofia’s house exchange program. An elderly couple from Melbourne had contacted her and asked for Sofia’s flat for two weeks. They wanted to see Sin City and get married again in one of the chapels. A second wedding after almost fifty years. They arrived and Sofia and Sara took of with the keys to the flat of the couple and – even more important – with the keys of their trailer, camper van, how they called it here. They’d spend two nights in Sydney, see the city, have a tour to the Blue Mountains and fly on their third day to Melbourne. From here they’d take the trailer and go via the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide, take a flight to Uluru, come back and drive through the Outback of South Australia and Victoria back to Melbourne to catch their flight back to Sydney. For the whole trip they had two weeks. Two very busy weeks, with over seven thousand miles.  
“And the Harbour Bridge. Don’t they look beautiful together?”  
“Since where are you interested in buildings?”  
“Since we’re on the other side of the earth. Sara, this is Australia we see down there. We are down under!”  
“As long as our plane isn’t upside down I don’t care.”  
“You’re grumpy.”  
“You woke me up.”  
“We are there.”  
“That can’t be, the last time I had a look on the screen we were close to New Zealand.”  
“Yeah, that’s four hours ago. You missed all the sheep shagger.”  
“When somebody kicks your ass for saying things like that I won’t help you.”  
“First of all, there shouldn’t be any people from New Zealand around, there’s no reason why they fly to Australia and back to New Zealand when they can straight from Los Angeles to Auckland. Auckland, not Oakland, also important to know when you’re booking your flight. Second, they don’t kick my ass, they kick my ARSE.”  
“Whatever.”  
“Come on, I’m the sleepy one.”  
“And I’m the grumpy one.”  
“Your point.” Sofia grinned. “But you are happy to be here, aren’t you?”  
“Yes.” A little smile appeared on Sara’s face. After over sixteen hours of flying she was more than happy to be in Australia.  
“I filled out your immigration card.”  
“What?”  
“It’s like coming to the US, we had to fill out a card, I did that for you, all you have to do is signing it. I didn’t want to wake you up.”  
“Thanks. What did they ask?”  
“Pretty much the same you fill out when you come to the US. I crossed everything in a way that allows you to go through without any problems. A ‘no’ for everything we’ll be alright.”  
“I hope you didn’t lie.”  
“Never. I’m a lieutenant, we don’t lie.” Sofia had made lieutenant a week ago. She had been very happy to get her new rank before they went away on holidays. Now she was a lieutenant, if anybody asked her what her job was, she could use her new rank. It felt good to be her final goal, becoming chief of the police, a little bit closer. And her ego got a boost too because she was the best in the group of the new lieutenants. Well, she didn’t expect anything less.  
“Sure.”  
“Time to land.” Sofia took Sara’s hand. She hoped she would get used to flying one day. She was all right when they were in the air, but she got a little bit nervous when it came to take off and landing. Something to hold on, on this case Sara’s hand, was very important to stay calm. That and concentrating on a regular breath helped a lot.  
“We did it, you can relax.” Sara smiled and stroke Sofia’s hand short with her finger.  
“Yes. Thanks for taking care of me.”  
“No worries, Sheila.”  
“You read the Australian slang pages, didn’t you?”  
“You reckon!”  
“They say strange words here. A trailer is a caravan. Do you think we will understand them here?”  
“We are open-minded women, we will understand them.”  
“I hope so.”  
Was Sofia a little skeptical about the Australian English first, she had forgotten that after her meeting with one of the customer guys. His wide smile when he greeted her with a friendly “G’day, how’s going?” put a smile in her face.  
“Maybe there’s no reason to worry, they are really cute.” She whispered into Sara’s ear after they had passed the guy. 

“You know the Opera House looks much better from the plane.” Sofia dropped on a bench and looked at the building in front of her.  
“Most things look better on a postcard or from a distance.” Sara took a photo. They had had a shower, took an hour to relax and walked from the central bus station down the Elisabeth street, turned right on Bridge street and after a stop at the Conservatorium of Music they had a little breakfast in the Royal Botanic Garden. The little train, that run through the garden, hit them almost twice while they were turning their heads to see all the flying foxes around.  
“What is next on our plan?”  
“We’ll admire the bridge, take pictures, walk from here to Mrs. Macquaries Chair, come back to here, have a stroll around the harbor and go through The Rock up to the observation point. A lovely wedding chapel and a perfect view on the harbor will pay us for all the effort. Back to the harbor and with the ferry in the sunset down to Darling Harbor, to have some dinner and back to the hotel.”  
“I think I’ll die.” Sofia put her head on Sara’s shoulder. That sounded like a lot of walking and she was tired. The jetlag and the lack of sleep made every step more difficult.  
“You won’t. But you’ll sleep very good tonight.”  
“We need to sleep well, somebody ordered another long trip for tomorrow. Blue Mountains, that sounds like climbing up and down mountains.”  
“I’m sure you can handle that. It’s an average tour, there will be people older than you, they’ll do the same walks. I told you, if you drag me to Australia I’ll make your holiday to a work-out and I meant that. You’ll happy to be back in Vegas and work double shifts because you’ll get more sleep this way.”  
“I don’t miss doubles, I miss sleeping.”  
“Later, Blondie, later.” Sara took Sofia’s hand and pulled her up. “Time to go on. We can go first to Mrs. Macquaries Chair, that will save us a few yards.”  
“Don’t they count in meter? How many yards is a meter? Or the other way around?”  
“One meter is one yard and three inches – I guess.”  
“I knew it can be very handy to have a geek around.”  
“Geek? Try to be nicer to me, officer.”  
“I can restrain you, don’t think I don’t have my cuffs with me.”  
“If you really have your cuffs on you, you’re even more crazy than I’ve thought”  
“Don’t try me too hard, you know I’m good for a surprise.”  
“Yes you are.” They strolled along the harbor, always making sure that they won’t disturb any runner or dog owner.  
“That is the chair?” Sofia stared at the stone in front of her.  
“Yes.”  
“It’s a rock.”  
“A sandstone rock to be exact. Have a seat and feel like Elisabeth Macquarie.”  
“Okay, tell me who she was and why she has a stone – sandstone – chair.” Sofia sat on the rock and let Sara take a picture.  
“She was the wife of Major General Lachlan, the governor of New South Wales. She used to sit there and watch the ships from England. You’ve got something of an English lady.”  
“Is that good or bad?”  
“Could there be anything bad about you?” Sara cocked her head.  
Without a word Sofia got up, walked to her, got into her private space so that their noses touched each others.  
“Don’t mock me, Sara.”  
“Never.” Sara, taking the advantage of being two inches taller than Sofia, got on her toes and kissed Sofia’s nose. “Take a picture of me on the lady’s chair, would you?”  
Sofia mumbled something but did what Sara asked for. After a few more pictures they walked the way along the harbor back. Pictures of the Harbour Bridge and the harbor were a must-do. It wasn’t like the skyscraper in Los Angeles but it looked great.  
The Rocks was another little highlight on their tour. Old buildings, cobblestone streets and a lot of restaurants. It was a hard job for Sara to get Sofia away from all the candy shops and up on the next hill. The Observation Point was on top of the hill and as Sara had promised, provided a great view.  
“Okay it looks great here and I loved everything we’ve seen so far but do we have to walk more?”  
“Yes.”  
“Why?”  
“Because.” Sara handed a chocolate bar to Sofia. “I want to sit with you on a ferry, have my arm around your shoulders, a coke and watch the city from the water. Imagine, we’ll arrive in Darling Harbour with all the lights around us.”  
“And then we go to bed?”  
“No dinner?”  
“We can have a subway and eat on our way back to the hotel.”  
“You’re really tired, aren’t you?”  
“Yes.” Sofia closed her eyes and snuggled close to Sara’s arm. “I was awake the whole time, took care of you while you were sleeping. Your knight is now tired.”  
“I’ll get my brave knight to the ferry. Cone on.”  
“Wait a second.” Sofia got out of Sara’s arms and walked to a stranger, gave him her camera and let him take a picture of them in the chapel in front of the Sydney harbour.  
“I’ll send this photo to my mom and tell her, she has a daughter-in-law now.”  
“Great, let her shoot me the next time I see.”  
“She won’t shoot you, she’ll love you.”  
“Yeah, after I’ve told her that you lied to her.”  
“Spoilsport.”  
“I like my life.”  
“I like to live with you.”  
“Stop sounding like we’re a couple.”  
“You could get somebody worse.”  
“In that case I’d stay single.”  
“Again she hurts me. Breaks my heart.”  
“I’ll stitch it together later.” Sara nudged Sofia. It was time to walk back down to the harbor. The sooner they were there, the sooner Sofia could catch her sleep. But first the ferry trip to Darling Harbour. Sara had seen photos of the harbor covered in lights and the were supposed to come to this on a ferry which meant, water to all these high buildings and lights. She hoped their camera could take good photos in the difficult light situation. 

“I hate driving on the wrong side of the street.” Sara narrowed her eyes to concentrate on the trailer. She had been sweating hard when she and Sofia left Melbourne and they were paying attention to stay on the left side of the street than where they were going.  
“You’re doing a great job, Sara.” Sofia had been latched onto the handle over the door when they started their trip. By now her hands were on her lab but she was still as tensed as Sara was.  
“As long as you keep telling me to stay left we’ll survive.”  
“I’ll remind you whenever we turn. I hope you’ll do the same later for me.” Sara wanted to drive the first two hours then they would change and it was Sofia’s turn to drive.  
“I will. I’ll get a winding road.”  
“Better than a city.”  
“Tell me about it.” Sara had sighed out very loud after they had left Melbourne and it’s suburbs.  
“You know if we reach Port Fairy without a scratch I’ll kiss you and buy us a huge, great and expensive dinner.” Sofia said.  
“Am I supposed to feel honored or scared?”  
“Well, it’s an honor to get kissed by me and it’s also dangerous because I kiss so damn good, you won’t get enough of me, fall in love with me and will be addicted to me and my softly, lovely lips immediately.”  
“Smuggy.”  
“Oh, I haven’t heard that one in a long time. Thought you forgot about that, Grumpy Smurf.”  
“How could I forget that? You remind me of it a few times a day.”  
“Seems like you like to have a smug person with you. Can I don anything for you, Grumpy? Do you need anything?”  
“A coke would be nice.”  
“Do you want to drink it from the can or from my lips?” Sofia’s grin got wider when Sara looked at her with annoyance. “You can’t kick or hit me, you have to concentrate on the street. Keep left.”  
“At the moment I am sure I won’t go on holiday with you again.”  
“I’m sure you will, you like me.” Sofia opened the can for Sara and handed it over. When Sara finished drinking Sofia put it in the holder and got a little box out of her bag. “Open your mouth.”  
“Why?”  
“Trust me.” She got a chopped piece of pineapple out that had a little chocolate icing. Without any protest Sara ate the offered piece.  
“And?”  
“Not too bad. You didn’t drown it in chocolate this time.”  
“No, I thought I keep it healthy. Want another one?”  
“Later. Thanks.”  
“All right. According to our guide book there’ll be a gate when the Great Ocean Road starts. I think we can stop there and take a few photos. There’re a couple of waterfalls on our way, always a few mi…kilometer – I’ve no idea how long a kilometer is – in the hinterland. Would you like to stop at one of them? I think if we try to see all we will be later for our sunset at the Twelve Apostle; a religious stop? Holy rocks? Well, as long as it looks great. And we’ve got a couple of beach towns on your way, perfect for lunch and to stop for shopping.”  
“What about koalas?”  
“I’ve found the place Bruce and Karen were talking about and marked it. We’ll be there later, it’s next to the street, we can’t miss it. I hope we’ll find a spot like that to see some kangaroos. We can’t go to Australia and don’t see any wild kangaroos. And I want to pet one. And a koala on my arm.”  
“I heard they can scratch and that their scratches are nasty.”  
“They look so cute.”  
“So do you and you’re dangerous too.”  
“Hah! She said I’m cute.” Sofia smirked and Sara rolled her eyes. 

Driving on the left side wasn’t that bad. The only time when she had to think about where she had to drive was after they had stopped on a car park because it was declared as a lookout. They saw the ocean, some green fields and some houses. The next stop was in front of the big sign great ocean road, that was all over the street.  
“Do you think they’d mind if i climb the sign?” Sofia looked up the sign.  
“Do you think they mind if you climb the railing on top of the stratosphere tower?” Sara asked back.  
“Okay, i won’t do it.” Sofia took a photo of Sara in front of the sign. She was very pleased with the weather. In Melbourne were clouds on the sky, here everything was in a wonderful deep blue and no clouds were around. The perfect surrounding for photos.  
“Your turn to drive, love.” Sara dropped the keys into Sofia’s hand.  
“Oh dear, did you write your will?”  
“I’ll let everything to you.”  
“I did the same with you. It looks like we have to survive. I try my best.”  
Sofia changed the seat. Time to concentrate. It was amazing when she was driving in Las Vegas she didn’t waste a thought about how to drive.  
“okay, okay, stay left, Sofia, stay left.” Sofia mumbled like a mantra. Her eyes pinned on the road she moved the trailer on the street.  
“This is one of the most beautiful roads in the world, let’s enjoy it.” Sara took her guide book.  
“Enjoy? Very funny. I’d enjoy this trip if we could drive on the right side of the street; literally on the right side. Please believe me, I’ll try my best to bring us safe and in one part to these apostle things, but…oh my god! What is that? Why are they half on the street? Sara! Help!”  
“Sofia, it’s a bus and it’s not half on the road, it’s maybe a foot, not more. And around it are a lot of tourists and I’m sure they won’t run onto the street.”  
“You never know. Tourists with their cameras, they see only the motive and not what is all around them. Do you have any idea how often I had to make a complete stop because one of these blind and stupid tourists jumped on the street to get the stratosphere tower on the photo? Weekly. They are everywhere and they don’t pay any attention to vehicles and traffic.”  
“We are tourists.”  
“We’re not running on the road. Look! Look! There we go, these idiots are on the road. I’ll run them over, I’ll kill them, the trailer is stronger than this Japanese man. He shouldn’t dare me.”  
“Calm down, blondie.” Sara chuckled and put her arm on Sofias.  
“Grrrr.” The blonde showed her teeth when she passed the bus. “And they’re on our lookout, they take our space.”  
“We’ll take the next one. According to the guide book there’s a lookout every few kilometer.”  
“Miles?”  
“That too, even less. And you’ll get your lunch in Apollo Bay.”  
“I like lunch. Do I get chocolate?”  
“Beside the chocolate on our pineapple pieces I bought a big bar for you.”  
“I love you.”  
“Then bring your love save along the great ocean road. It’s seventy kilometer long.”  
“Sara, I need the distance in miles.”  
“One mile is one point eight kilometer. To make it easier, make it a little bit over half. Forty miles and we’re done with the great ocean road, but the twelve apostle aren’t on this road. What won’t help you because this road and the next one are winding, you’ve got the part that is a challenge.”  
“I like challenges. How many miles are we from the koalas away?”  
“Too many. But there’s a waterfall in four kilo…the next street on the right.”  
“Yes, you got it, don’t use strange metrics words nobody knows. The next street on the right side is a thing everybody knows and understands.”  
“Flexibility isn’t one of your strengths, is it?” And Sara didn’t add the comment that there weren’t any streets on the left side because there was only the ocean and no mountains. Without a mountain there was no waterfall.  
“I’m a detective, I am flexible. But if my bad boy runs away in metrics I won’t find him.”  
“I’ll be by your side and tell you where to go and how far.”  
“Geek.”  
“Intelligent.”  
“GPS.”  
“Able to read a map.”  
“Whatever.” Sofia smiled and relaxed. With every minute on the left side she felt more secure. It was a strange feeling to be on the wrong side but as long as she had only to drive straight on, she was alright. Hopefully there was no bigger town on her way. 

The biggest problem on their way to the waterfall was the car park. Sofia needed a full minute to find a position that made it very easy for her to leave the space without turning. The waterfall had a lookout next to the car park, but both made the decision to walk down a little path with a lot of steps, to be down in front of the waterfall.  
After a few photos they climbed back up the stairs and went on with their joyride.  
The next stop was next to the Great Ocean Road. A campground and a little snack bar where they got some fries, a hot dog for Sofia and a salad for Sara. The food wasn’t the reason why they stopped here. Around a hundred yards away from the snack bar, behind the campground was a path up to the mountains through a eucalyptus wood. And in these trees were koalas.  
“My tour book doesn’t say anything about this stop.” Sara browsed in her book.  
“That’s why Karen wrote it down for us. Look, there is one!” Sofia stopped and pointed up a tree next to them. The difficult thing was to see koalas high up in the trees. They didn’t really move, the made no sound and their gray color matched pretty good to the trees.  
“Aren’t they cute? I want to cuddle one.”  
“As far as I know they’ve got sharp claws, you should think about that.” Sara warned.  
“First of all they are too high up in the trees. You think we’ll find a place where we can touch them?”  
“I don’t know. Maybe in a zoo.”  
“After I won’t see the Great Barrier Reef I want at last contact to one Australian animal.”  
“We could have taken the road up north to the Great Barrier Reef, you didn’t want that.”  
“I saw your guide book, it’s too much tourism up there, I want some real Australian feeling. We can do the Reef another time, if I like the country I want to come back. So far it’s great and I really look forward to see the outback. Do you think it will be like the desert? I mean, it’s a desert too, there shouldn’t be so many differences.”  
“On the pictures the ground is very red, I haven’t seen it that red at home. And the distances are much bigger. We’ll see.”  
“Yeah. Another one.” Sofia got her camera and tried to zoom the koala in.  
“How long do we have to drive from here to the Twelve Apostle?” Sofia asked.  
“Around an hour.”  
“We’ve got two more hours until sunset. I’ve some chopped fruits in the cooler bag, we can have them and a can of coke. I’d like to eat and drink something while we’re there. Sitting on a bench with you, watching these rocks and the sun going down in the ocean. It was amazing in Waikiki, let’s see if…where are we…?”  
“Victoria.”  
“Victoria can beat that. The coast so far looks great, it reminds a little bit of a part of the south east of Oahu when we had the day trip with the girls.”  
“Yes, that’s right.”  
“Okay, we saw half a dozen koalas, let’s go, I’m sure there are a few lookouts on our way and we’ll want to stop there for photos.”  
“And we shouldn’t be too late at the Twelve Apostle to get a good space for our caravan and a good place for us to look at the sunset.”  
“You said caravan, you start to talk in strange English.”  
“We should try to use their words, makes it easier for a conversation.”  
“They like conversations.” Sofia grinned. She had a conversation with an elderly woman at their last stop. The woman was from Perth, the biggest city in Western Australia, and she and Sofia had a few laughs about the different English and the misunderstands that could appear through that.  
“They do. They see you, don’t know you and instead of going on like it is in most countries, they stop and start talking to you. Very friendly people, we could learn from them.”  
“There are only twenty million of them in this huge country. That’s less than in California. Imagine you walk through New York and talk to every stranger who looks like a tourist and has a funny accent.”  
“You’d never leave Broadway.” Sara laughed. 

They made it on time to the Twelve Apostles. With food and two cans of coke they got themselves a place on the railing. Before they got there they had a stop at London Bridge or London Arch, a rock formation, that looked like the famous London Bridge until a part of it collapsed in 1990.  
“Okay, tell me your story about these two people.” Sofia said. Sara had wanted to tell her a story about two people when they were at London Arch but Sofia had stopped her so that could make it in time to the Twelve Apostles.  
“The two survivors stranded in the Loch Ard Gorge is named after the clipper ship Loch Ard that ran aground in 1878 after it’s three months trip from England to Melbourne. From the fifty-one people on board only two survived, Tom Pearce, a ship's apprentice, and Eva Carmichael, an Irishwoman who wanted to immigrate to Australia with her family. Both were only eighteen at that time…”  
“That’s sounds like stuff for a movie.”  
“I know. They filmed “’the Journey to the center of the earth” there in 1999 and some other movies. The arch nearby collapsed 2009, now the two rocks are called Tom and Eva after these two young people.”  
“Things like to collapse here quite often.”  
“The sea is rough. Australia lost a prime minister down here when he went out for a swim on Cheviot Beach in 1967 and drowned. Harold Holt was the seventeenth prime minister of this country and the only one that ever drowned. I don’t think any other prime minister in any other country drowned.”  
“An unusual country.”  
“It is. It’s amazing.”  
“So are you. Why do you know all these things?”  
“I started to look up the Great Ocean Road, looked for some stories about it and found these two. It’s interesting to learn things you don’t read in every tour guide book.”  
“My dad would have loved to have you around as a child. I’m sure you’d have appreciated the holidays at civil war places.”  
“I’m not into war, I’m more interested in peace. But it’s a part of our history, there were a lot of mistakes made and we should learn from them and the best to learn is to know.”  
“Yes, he would have loved you there.”  
“Do you love to have me here?” Sara smiled.  
“Absolutely. It’s more interesting to listen to your stories than to his. Sitting here, watching the sunset is better than walking over a field for hours. Any stories you want to tell me about the Twelve Apostle?”  
“Sure. This area was first called ‘Sow and piglets’, Muttonbird Island near Loch Ard Gorge was ‘Sow’ and the small rocks here ‘Piglets’. They changed it in the fifties of the last century for tourist reasons; of course. Twelve Apostles sounds much better than sow and piglets.  
One apostle collapsed in July 2005, it was fifty meter tall…” Sara got Sofia’s look. “…that should be around fifty five yards, I guess…”  
“Thanks.”  
“You’re not stupid, you’re a smart woman, you can convert that yourself.”  
“Yeah but I’m on holiday I prefer to think less.”  
“No wonder you’re not a CSI anymore.”  
“You want to say a detective can be stupid?”  
“No, they are smart too but a scientist never stops thinking. Anyway, one less since 2005 and in 2009 one of the three sisters collapsed.”  
“I thought they are in the Blue Mountains.”  
“They used this name for three smaller rocks here too.”  
“Why do people always use the same name for different things?”  
“Some names are simply famous. Back to the Twelve Apostle, only eight of them are still here.”  
“There are more than eight rocks here.”  
“Yeah, but not all of them are Apostles.”  
“This is getting too complicated and spoils the fun. I call them all Apostle, if that’s fine with you.”  
“It is.”  
“Great. And after food and information I think we should have a little walk around take some more photos. No matter if eight or twelve or twenty, they look stunning in the evening sun.”  
“They do.” Sara agreed. 

“You know it’s a pity you’re a vegetarian.” Sofia took a big bite from her dinner.  
“I used to eat fish but it’s an animal too. Eating fish would be betraying the reason why I stopped eating meat.”  
“Most people say fish isn’t meat.”  
“I know but it’s an animal. But I can tell you, it looks good.”  
“It tastes good.” Sofia had ordered snapper with potatoes and fresh mixed vegetables while Sara had a big salad and some fresh bread. They sat in a restaurant in Port Fairy, happy to be that their final destination for the day. It had been dark when they arrived here because they had used every second of the daylight for the Twelve Apostles. So far the most amazing and beautiful thing they had seen on their Australia trip.  
It’s a shame we don’t have more time.” Sara sighed. “There are so many national parks in the hinterland and we have to hurry to see everything. Tomorrow to Adelaide, the day after tomorrow the flight to Uluru, the two days there and at Kings Canyon, back to Adelaide, through the outback back to Sydney.”  
“We quit our job and have all the time in the world.”  
“And no money after a few weeks”  
“That’s the other side of the story.”  
The restaurant wasn’t far away from their campground and with a bottle of wine they walked back to their trailer. It was after nine, they were tired but not ready to go to bed.  
Snuggled in a blanket and with the wine they sat in front of their trailer and watched a group of young people around fifty yards away. They had made a fire and had a little party.  
“Did you do that when you were young? Leaving home with a bunch of friends for a long weekend somewhere else?” Sofia asked.  
“I didn’t really have friends when I was in high school. Foster kids are not that popular.”  
“What about college? People are a little bit smarter when they get older; some.”  
“No, I was too busy studying. I wanted to keep my stipendium and needed certain marks for that.”  
“I’m sure you had them all.”  
“Yes.” Sara chuckled. Her marks were barely under an A and if that had happened she made sure it wouldn’t happen again.  
“What about you?”  
“I was more into parties, not traveling. To go on a trip cost too much money, you can spend your money with parties in your hometown, no need to go anywhere else. The benefit when you grow up close to Vegas, there’s everything a good party needs.”  
“Close to the captain.”  
“That was the only down side. I can tell you, my mother could be a pain in the ass.”  
“I’m sure she said the same about you.”  
“She did. But I was, she still is.”  
“Why’s that?”  
“She wants to see me married. The last time we met she wanted to set me up with a colleague of hers. Do I look like I want my mom to pick out my partner?”  
“No.” Sara laughed.  
“I swear the next time she starts with this topic I’ll make up a story to shut her up. I’ll tell her we’re a couple, that should make her shut up.”  
“You want me killed?”  
“She won’t kill you, stop saying that. She likes you.”  
“At least as long as she thought I’m only a colleague.”  
“She knows you’re my best friend.”  
“There’s a difference between best friend and lover.”  
“Yeah a best friend is reliable.”  
“Thanks.”  
“In that case you’d be perfect, as a lover and best friend.”  
“Do you try to talk me into a relationship with you?” Sara cocked her head and looked amused to Sofia.  
“I don’t have to, in two years you’re mine anyway. The wedding deal.”  
“I don’t plan to be the next two years single.”  
“Oh, who is it? Who caught your attention? Do I know him?”  
“He doesn’t exist – yet. But I plan to meet him.”  
“We’ll go out a little bit more when we’re back in Vegas. Two gorgeous women like us, there must be two decent guys who want us.”  
“I hope.” Sara took a sip of her wine. She started to miss a relationship. It had been a while that she and Grissom split, she wanted somebody new in her life. It wasn’t like she was desperately looking for somebody but she would like to find somebody in the near future.  
“Can I ask you something personal?”  
“If not you, who could?” Sara laughed.  
“Nobody?”  
“Exactly. What is it?”  
“I’m still a little bit stuck with my idea to tell my mom that we’re a couple so that she leaves me alone…”  
“If you want to tell her that, go ahead, I don’t mind. But think if you really want to lie to her. If it’s worth.”  
“Probably not. Did you ever sleep with a woman?”  
“Are you coming after me?” Sara giggled.  
“No…no even if it would be difficult to get somebody better than you.”  
“Thanks, likewise. Did you?”  
“No. There were so many men around me all the time, they got my attention. If a woman was interested they were…I don’t know, too harsh, too much like male machos and I don’t like machos. I like men who know what they want but if they are arrogant and think they’re god’s gift to women, they can stay wherever they are. I don’t mind a macho as long as there’s a sensitive spot inside.”  
“Like with you, very smug from the outside, very sensitive from the inside.”  
“Yeah, I want another me.” Sofia smiled.  
“What an awful thought, two Sofias…”  
“You’d probably fall for this guy because he’s like me.”  
“You think? No, I live without arrogant people around me. You are enough.”  
“That’s not the nicest thing to say.”  
“The truth isn’t always nice.”  
“I know.” Sofia cocked her head. “You owe me an answer. Or was it too personal?”  
“No.” Sara laughed. “I don’t think there’s anything we can’t talk about, at least I can’t imagine a topic I don’t want to talk with you about.  
Yes, I did sleep with a woman. Once. When I was in college. We were friends, drunk, I’ve no idea how got this idea, but we tried it.”  
“Is it different than with men? I mean, it should, it’s a woman…”  
“The men I slept with I was in love with, you know I’m not into affairs. I tried it, it didn’t work for me. This woman was a one night stand, so it wasn’t that good. I don’t blame her, I don’t blame it on the fact that she was a woman. We were drunk, we weren’t that close, there were no feelings, it was more like…yeah like a science project. It has nothing to do with making love.”  
“That means if I end up married with you, the bar isn’t that high.” Sofia laughed.  
“Not, the bar is really low.”  
“I promise I’ll try to be better than her.”  
“I’m sure you would be.”  
“Are you?” Sofia raised an eyebrow.  
“Don’t look like that. It has nothing to do with being good in bed. We are close, even if we would sleep together not because we feel like lovers, we’re very close friends, we know the other, I know how you react to certain things, you know how I react. We wouldn’t wake up with a hangover, wouldn’t see it as a kind of science project. You are close, closer than I was too most of my boyfriends.”  
“I know what you mean.” Sofia took Sara’s hand. “There’s trust and respect in our relationship. I trust you boundless.”  
“So do I to you.”  
“No high bar for our wedding night, that’s something to look forward to.”  
“There won’t be a wedding night, not one for the two of us, Sofia. You’ll find your smug sensitive man and become a mother and I’ll get my man who isn’t emotional unavailable.”  
“Sounds like a good plan. You think we’ll the right men here in Australia? Could you imagine to marry an Aussie?”  
“Why not?” Sara giggled. “All we need is somebody who gets his wrong English into right English. I saw a few really cute guys here and they were all nice and polite. I hope you come over twice a year to visit me.”  
“Of course I’ll drag my family around the world to see you and your roo rooter.”  
“I beg your pardon?”  
Sofia’s grin was wide. “I met this Kiwi when I was taking photos of the Twelve Apostles and he told me, Australians are roo rooter. Must be the revenge for the sheep shagger. When I told him, we wouldn’t use ‘root’ in that context he laughed and said, he knows we root for a team and people here are wondering with whom of the team and how often. We need to go to a local pub, I want to learn more of these funny things we say and they understand something else. Like ass and arse…if I tell them I’ll kick their ass they might tell me, they don’t have a donkey.”  
“It would be an interesting marriage, yes. A challenge.”  
“We find you a cute farmer, enough space for my family and me when we come over for a few weeks. And you come back to Vegas twice a year so that you don’t forget how civilization looks like.”  
“That’s a deal we can try to work on tomorrow. Come on, lieutenant, time to go to bed. There are six hundred kilometer waiting for us tomorrow.”  
“Tell me again in miles.”  
“Around 370 miles.”  
“Okay, we’ll need a few hours for that.”  
“Yes.”  
“Breakfast at eight, leaving at nine?”  
“Latest.”  
“Okay, fast breakfast at half seven, what means getting up at seven for a shower and leaving at eight?”  
“Better.”  
“And they call that holidays.” Sofia sighed. She hoped there’d be a day they could sleep in. At least one day.

Part 2

“It’s not that impressive.” Sofia cocked her head and looked at the Uluru.  
“You don’t think so? I think it’s amazing. There’s a certain energy around here.”  
“Mhm.” Sofia tried to concentrate but couldn’t get anything.  
“Do you enjoy it at least?”  
“Absolutely.” She linked her arm with Sara. “It looks great, it’s a huge rock in the middle of nowhere but it’s not that special. I liked the Twelve Apostle more. Maybe I’m not that impressed by things in the desert because I grew up there and the ocean is something special to me.”  
“Maybe.”  
“I’m glad you didn’t want to climb it.”  
“Me? It’s a holy place for the aboriginals.”  
“Yeah but a lot of people who like the Uluru want to climb on it.”  
“You saw where they climb, didn’t you? It’s a rope up the mountain, no steps, nothing. And only one rope for both ways. Even if I’d make up to the top the way down would be much more difficult. So no, I respect their religion, I can walk around and take pictures where it’s allowed and that’s it.”  
“We had one round, that’s enough. Crazy tourists, walking around a rock in the desert, it’s…hot and the sun burns. We are crazy.”  
“It’s around one hundred.”  
“As I said, it’s hot. There was a pool around the corner.” They were on a campground only a few miles away from the Uluru. This night they’d sleep under the sky in a swag. As their tour guide had promised them, a real Australian feeling.  
“Okay, let’s have a swim. Dan said he wants us back in an hour for dinner.”  
“I’ve to cook in my holidays…”  
“That what happens when you book a backpacker tour.”  
“Yeah…I thought Australia is famous for the backpacker, I want to meet a few. This one guy is cute, but they are so young…what a pity.”  
“Much too young for you, Sofia.”  
“I know…and again, I’m sure the age gap would be around yours and Grissoms and nobody said anything about that.”  
“There were only a hand full of people who knew and as you see, it didn’t work out.”  
“Not because of the age.”  
“True. It wasn’t the age.”  
“Maybe I’ll give this cutie a try…let’s see where he’s from.”  
“Don’t get a baby in your swag.”  
“Don’t worry, if he’s under twenty-one I’m not interested anymore.”  
“Under twenty-one?!?” Sara couldn’t believe her ears. Sofia threw her towel in Sara’s arms and dove in the pool, not waiting for her friend and the lecture.  
“She’s crazy.” Sara put the towels on a chair and went slowly down in the water. It wasn’t as cold as she had expected, the sun must have headed it up quite good.  
Not paying attention to Sofia, who was in a conversation with the young man (or old boy what Sara would call him) the brunette swam a few rows before she got out of the water and back to their towels. Another young woman, who was in their group, sat on the chair next to her.  
“How is the water?” She asked.  
“Not that cold but nice. You don’t go in?”  
“No, I’m not into pool water, I prefer the ocean.”  
“The ocean is too far away.”  
“True. But the water up north is great if you go north.”  
“No, we go back south again. There’s not enough time.” Sara remembered the name of the woman was Sharon.  
“How much time do you have?”  
“We’ve two weeks for the trip from Sydney to Melbourne, Great Ocean Road to Adelaide, up here, back to Adelaide, with the trailer…caravan…through the outback back to Sydney.”  
“You must have pretty long distances to drive.”  
“The last was over six hundred miles…kilometer.”  
Sharon laughed. “Getting confused with the different measures?”  
“Yes. Everything is wrong here. They drive on the wrong side of the street, they have the wrong temperature, the wrong distance, it’s like being in a country you don’t understand anybody.”  
“On top of that the Australian English.”  
“Yes.” Sara laughed.  
“Where in the States are you from?”  
“Las Vegas.”  
“Nice.”  
“And you? I can hear an Irish accent…”  
“Dublin.”  
“The capital.”  
“Yeah we moved there when I was a child. I liked the country side more. Have you ever been to Ireland?”  
“No, never.”  
“If you like green places and nature, you’ll like it.”  
“I’ll tell Sofia our next trip has to be to Ireland.”  
“Your girlfriend is busy flirting, if she goes on like that you’ve to go alone.”  
“She has a soft spot for this guy…I forgot his name.”  
“Luigi. Perfect for an Italian man.”  
“He’s too young for her.”  
“How old is your friend? Sofia?”  
“Sofia is…let’s say she’s closer to forty than thirty.” Sara chuckled. Sofia would kill her if she found out Sara said that.  
“He looks young but as far as I know he’s closer to thirty than twenty.”  
“That’s a start.”  
“You’re okay with her flirting with him?”  
“Sure, why…oh, no, we’re not a couple.” Sara laughed. It seemed like they had looked too much like a couple when they were taking all these photos arm in arm in front of the Uluru. Like their colleagues, people here got the wrong impression.  
“Oh, sorry, I thought…”  
“No, we’re friends, very close but not a couple.”  
“Than you’ve no reason to be jealous.”  
“No. I’ll make sure she sleeps alone in her sleeping bag anyway.”  
“Tell her, she’s on her way back to you.” Sharon pointed to the pool where Sofia got out with one elegant jump. Sara handed her the towel and made some space on her chair because there was no empty chair left.  
“Thanks.”  
“You’re welcome. Any luck with the man?”  
“I’ve got an email address. Jealous?”  
“No.”  
“Not even a little bit?”  
“You mean because you’ve got his address or because he had your attention?” Sara asked back with a smile.  
“Let’s start with both.”  
“No.”  
“Pity.”  
“I start to understand why people think we’re couple.” Sara grinned to Sharon. “She behaves like that.”  
“A little bit.”  
“Absolutely.”  
“She always does, she can’t help but flirting. Must be a kind of addiction.”  
“Stop talking bad about me when I’m sitting next to you.” Sofia pinched Sara.  
“I consider it as telling the truth. Sometimes the truth isn’t nice.”  
“And she calls herself friend.” Sofia got Sara’s knees upright so that she could lean on them.  
“If I wouldn’t be a friend you’d fall.”  
“Right in your arms.”  
“No, I’d let you fall on the ground.”  
“Ouch.”  
“Yes.”  
“You guys sure you’ll survive the holidays together?”  
“That’s no problem, we’re used to spend a lot of time together. We work together and these are not our first holidays together. All you have to do is ignore her when she’s smug – which is most of the times.”  
“Grumpy Smurf is talking.”  
“I think I’ll go and see if Dan needs some help with the dinner. He wants to take some stuff with us when we go back to Uluru to see the sunset.”  
“Good idea. Mind if I join you?” Sara asked.  
“Not at all.”  
“Yeah, leave, that will give Luigi the chance to use the chair next to me.”  
“Take your hands off that boy, you’re too old!”  
“I hate you. Get lost!”  
Sara grinned and walked with Sharon away. She knew by telling Sofia she was old, she got the blonde to think about her age for the rest of the evening. A mean trick but it was working all the time.

After an astonishing sunset and a very early sunrise at the Uluru Sara and Sofia had walked with their group around the Kata Tjuta, or Olgas.  
“The valley of the wind had not really wind.” Sofia complained when they were gathering around the camp fire later in the evening. A thing nobody did because it wasn’t cold, it was still warm, but it was nice to sit by the fire.  
“No. Did you count the mountains? There are supposed to be thirty-six.”  
“No, I believe you when you tell me there are so many. I’m glad we didn’t climb them all.”  
“You’ll love Heart Attack Hill tomorrow.” Dan grinned. He was sitting next to Sara.  
“Do we have to climb a hill with this name?”  
“Yes, it will bring us on top of the canyon.”  
“How long is the walk tomorrow?”  
“About four hours. We’ll be there at half six so that we’ll be back by eleven. The track gets closed quite often around that time because it’s too dangerous to climb it. We’ll take all the time in the world for Heart Attack Hill, there’s no need to rush. As soon as we’re on top, we won’t have to climb again; only if you want to go swimming in the Garden Of Eden.”  
“Garden Of Eden sounds nice.” Sara said.  
“As swim sounds good after a climb. How high is the hill?”  
“Well the walls of the canyon are over three hundred meter high.”  
“Sara?” Sofia sighed.  
“Come on, you can do it, Sofia. One meter is one yard and three inches approximately.”  
“Over three hundred.”  
“Around three hundred thirty.”  
“Is it a wall or are there steps?”  
“Steps.”  
“I hate steps. My knees will kill me.”  
“There is the chance to walk next to the path, you don’t have to take all steps.”  
“That’s better. I’ll have sore muscles after this trip, I know it.”  
“The rest of the trip is sitting in the trailer and drive.”  
“Yes all the way from Adelaide to Sydney via Broken Hill.”  
“Where will you have stops?”  
“We’ll go from Adelaide straight to Broken Hill for two nights and from there to Dubbo, having a night there and go back to Sydney. If we can manage we’d like to get up the coast for a day, there’s a koala hospital in Port Mac…”  
“A koala hospital?” That was the first thing Sofia heard. Sara had never mentioned this hospital to her.  
“We’re so gonna go up to…Port Whatever…wait…Port Macquarie…is that the port of the lady who’s chair we saw in Sydney?”  
“It’s named after her husband.”  
“Of course, the woman gets a small stone and the man a whole town. Bastards.”  
“The old times, Sofia.” Dan laughed.  
“They wouldn’t do it otherwise today. But Sara, we’ll go there! I want to see koalas and I want to touch them, or at least be very close to them. We can skip anything else but not the koalas. Can’t we go from Dubbo straight to Port Macquarie?”  
“Dan?”  
“Good question. It’s a six hundred kilometer ride…don’t ask me how many miles that are, Sofia.”  
“370, we had the same distance from Port Fairy to Adelaide. We can do that. Sara?” Sofia’s eyes pleaded for an affirmation of her friend.  
“We’ll go there, yes. And even if that means we’ll have no more time in Sydney, you’ll see your koalas.”  
“I love you.” Sofia hugged Sara.  
“Some women are easy to please.” She grinned.  
“You won’t say that when you’re on the road.” Dan smiled. “It’s a long trip. Especially after the trip from Broken Hill to Dubbo, that’s even longer. You’ll be two days only on the road.”  
“We’ll have plenty of water, make some break for a short run.”  
“It will be hard, but we can sleep in the plane.”  
“Yeah, sixteen hours.” Sofia rolled her eyes. What an awful thought. But she would see her beloved koalas.  
“Dan, where can we see kangaroos?”  
“There might be a few on the road when we go to the Kings Canyon. They’re active in the evening, night and early morning. Keep an eye open for them.”  
“An open eye at five in the morning? I need toothpicks.” Sofia buried her face in Sara’s hair. She was happy if she could get out of bed – or swag – at five, keeping her eyes open sounded impossible. 

They survived Heart Attack Hill and the rest of the canyon walk. Tired, dirty and sweaty Sara and Sofia had taken a nap in the bus when they were on their way back to Alice Springs. Like most of their group members they woke up when they had a stop at a traffic sign that showed a camel and when they had a stop at a camel farm. Feeling like a little adventure they took a camel ride inclusive a canter. After that Sara knew why these animals were called ship of the desert, she was sea sick.  
Back in Alice Springs they went to their room, had a shower and were after another short nap back with their group. This evening was the goodbye party. Most of the group would leave tomorrow like Sara and Sofia did. Tonight they got a discount on their dinner and some free beer from their tour company in a pub across the street from their motel.  
“I liked these three days. We should do that again.” Sofia got rigid. “Sara, there’s a snake!”  
“Don’t worry it’s a cuddle snake.”  
“A what?”  
“A boa, all she wants is too cuddle you.” Sara grinned. A man was with his snake in the pub. He wanted to show them some Australian native animals and snakes were very Australian. Sara was glad he didn’t bring a Brown Snake or a Taipan.  
“Would you like to have a photo with you and the snake?” Sara offered.  
“Are you kidding me? Over my dead body! That’s a snake, Sara, not a koala. You bring me a koala and I’ll hug that one but not a snake.”  
“They feel great.”  
“They are snakes.”  
“Pansy.” Sara got up. She would pet the snake. When she came to the man he put the snake around her neck. Sofia got almost a heart attack, seeing her friend with a snake around her neck, obviously happy and the snake starting to roll it’s tail around Sara’s leg. It was ready to kill her friend! It took Sofia all her willpower not to run at Sara and free her. Instead she took some photos, nobody would believe her when she told them in Vegas, Sara was playing with a snake. A crazy woman.  
“It feels really good.” Sara came back smiling.  
“There are other things that feel really good.”  
“A dragon?” Sharon, who sat opposite of them had a dragon on her arm.  
“Uhm…”  
“I take it.” Sara held her arm out and Sharon put the dragon on it.  
“Hello gorgeous.” Sara petted the animal softly with her index finger. “You know what kind it is exactly?”  
“Central Bearded Dragon, they’re very popular as pets because they’re so friendly. No need to be scared, Sofia.”  
“I don’t trust strange things.”  
“It’s not a thing it’s an animal. I didn’t know you’re that scared, officer.”  
“Officer?” Sofia’s eyes narrowed. “Give me that bloody dragon! I’ll be a knight and fight it.”  
“You hurt this cutie you’ll be in trouble with me.” Sara handed her the dragon.  
Sofia swallowed first before she realized that the dragon wasn’t slimy or wet. It was dry and warm, sat still on her arm and didn’t seem to bother to be handed around.  
“Smile.” Sara took a photo of Sofia with the dragon.  
“Maybe it doesn’t feel too bad…whoa…!” The dragon started to walk. Sofia had to stop the urge to shake her arm when the dragon climbed up her arm and stopped on her shoulder, obviously happy with it’s new place and all the things it could see. After a few seconds it closed it’s eyes.  
“Somebody is sleeping on your shoulder. That’s cute.” Sara grinned and got her camera. “Close your eyes and I’ll take a sleep photo.”  
“At least you enjoy that a wild animal took over me.”  
“Don’t be so whiny…oh come on, close your eyes”  
“I’ve closed my eyes.”  
“Not you, the little dragon. As soon as the flash light comes up it opens it’s eyes. Without the flash I can’t take a photo. Damn.”  
“Oh well we’ll wait for you and the camera. I don’t think the little dragon will run away.”  
“There’s somebody who likes you.” Sara smiled.  
“You.”  
“Besides me.”  
“Luigi?”  
“I don’t know what the name of this little fellow is.”  
“I need a man who likes me. American, would be nice if he’s from Vegas, that makes the relationship easier.”  
“In that case you should spend your holidays in Vegas and not in Australia.” Sharon laughed.  
“I do spend a lot of time in Vegas, which doesn’t mean I find a decent man. Somehow it seems to be impossible to find a man who wants a relationship that will last longer than a weekend.”  
“You look at the wrong places.”  
“Before I start looking in the internet or newspaper to find a boyfriend I’ll stay single. I’m not that desperate.”  
“Good to know. And for the moment you’re engaged with a really good looking…whatever it is.”  
“Soft and smooth. A little bit like me.” Sofia grinned. 

Two hours and two jugs of beer later (which means for an American woman a little bit more than half a gallon of beer later) Sofia and Sara were dancing in the pub. The animals were gone and it was time for some party. They had a karaoke night and classics like ‘Summer of ‘69’ or ‘I want to hold your hand’ were mixed with Australian songs like ‘Down under’ and ‘You shook me all night long’. There was something for everybody.  
“Would you sing with me?” A man came to Sofia.  
“Me? I can’t sing.”  
“Neither can I or anybody else here, that’s the fun. Come on.” They had been dancing a few times. She know his name was Graeme and he was from Darwin, had made the same tour to Uluru like Sofia and Sara only with another company. He and his friend would leave Alice Springs the next afternoon on the train up north.  
“I don’t know.” He was a funny man, a little bit younger than her, around six foot and short black hair. It wasn’t like he was trying to hit on her, at least she didn’t get the feeling.  
“Come on, you’re on holiday, nobody knows you here, you’ll never come back, no need to be serious. Take the change and act like a child and a fool, have some fun test who much the audience can take. We can’t be worse than Sonny and Cher.”  
“They weren’t that bad.” Sofia laughed. “What song do you want to sing?”  
“Let’s go and find a good one.”  
“Okay.” Sofia waved shortly over to Sara who was sitting with Graeme’s friend at the bar.  
“Where are they going?” Sara furrowed her brows. If Sofia was leaving with a guy she better made sure she was back in time the next morning. Their flight was at ten, they had to leave to the airport at eight, latest half eight.  
“Graeme wanted to make Sofia sing, I think they’re looking for a song.”  
“They want to sing karaoke? I hope you don’t expect me to do the same.”  
“No.” Wayne laughed. His longer blondish hair was more or less standing in every direction since they had danced and headbanged.  
“Not my cup of tea.”  
“Good.” Sara took a sip of her beer.  
“Tell me which one is your favorite?” They had tried four different types of beer so far. All from Australia and Wayne was curious which one Sara preferred.  
“I like the second one.”  
“Tooheys.”  
“Yes. The first one was too…I don’t know, it didn’t taste like a full beer.”  
“Four X Gold, yeah it has reduced alcohol. Some like it for lunch.”  
“Lunch? You mean between the working hours?”  
“Yes.” He laughed. “We’re a little bit more easy going here than you guys. Having a beer while you’re out on the fields isn’t a thing a boss would worry about. We’re not talking about business men in suits, we’re talking about blokes on the field.”  
Now it was Sara who was laughing.  
“Why are you laughing?”  
“I like it when you say ‘blokes’. I’ve to admit I like the Australian English. It sounds different to our American English and sometimes I’ve no idea what you’re talking about but I like to listen to it.”  
“We do speak the same language but we use some different words.”  
“Tell me about it. Our trailer is a caravan here. And when I said on our tour there’s a nice truck in front of the bus our tour guide laughed out loud and told me it’s a…I don’t know, he didn’t say pick up.”  
“Sheila, the bloke didn’t laugh out loud, he pissed himself laughing and your truck is a ute. Very famous here, especially with the blokes. You take your Sheila out for a few cans of piss and a vegemite sandwich and go rooting on the back of the ute.”  
“I beg your pardon?”  
“Okay, I’d take you on a joyride with my ute – truck and we would have a six pack of beer, a sandwich with vegemite. If you haven’t had vegemite so far you need to try, it’s typical Australian food, we love it and eat it on and with everything. And then we’ll have sex on the back of the truck. Better?”  
“Sounds more like English to me.”  
“Yeah the problem is, you know now what I said and will deny and if I tell you in Aussie what I want you might not understand it, say yes and I’ll get what I want.”  
“Believe me, being on a truck in the nowhere or not, if you try something I don’t like, you’ll end up having a lot of pain.”  
“You’re a tough chick.”  
“I travel with my own cop I’m well protected.”  
“Your cop is about to climb the stage. Do you have a video camera? I’m sure you can use a tape of this for whatever you want her to do.”  
“I can take my camera, it makes video too; with sound.” Sara knew Sofia would kill her if she recorded that. What a fun.  
“We’ve two new singers.” The DJ said. “And uhm, they’ll sing a song most people might know from their parents, it’s quite old but funny. I’m sure the bloke had some bottles of Bundy and the chick, well, I think she didn’t say no either. Say hello to Graeme from Darwin and Sofia from Las Vegas – I’m gonna marry her if I ever make it to there - and they’ll sing for us ‘Stumbling in’ from Chris Norman and Suzi Quatro.”  
Sara couldn’t recall the song in her head. A song most people would know from their parents. That didn’t mean anything, most of the people around her were so young, they could be her children (or she was so old she could be their mother but the other way around sounded better to her).  
When the music started and Sofia and Graeme started singing, Sara had to chuckle.  
“Our love is alive and so we begin foolishly laying our hearts on the table, stumbling in. Our love is a flame, burning within. Now and then fire light will catch us, stumbling in.”  
She knew this song. And she liked it. How did they end up with this old song? It wasn’t the music Sofia usually listened to.  
“Wherever I go, whatever you do you know these reckless thoughts of mine are followin' you.” Graeme’s voice wasn’t as rough as the voice of Chris Norman, it seems like he had to drink more whiskey – or whatever the DJ had recommended to drink.  
“I’ve fallen for you, whatever you do 'cause baby you've shown me so many things that I never knew. Whatever it takes, baby, I'll do it for you …” Sofia’s voice wasn’t husky like the voice of Suzi Quatro, but she did a good job. And she was flirting with Graeme, like it was suppose to be with this song. So far there was no need to be ashamed of her karaoke experience.  
Satisfied with her camera Sara stopped the recording when Sofia and Graeme left the stage.  
“Don’t tell them about the recording, I’ll surprise her with that. I’m thinking of inviting her to look at the photos and then I’ll put on the video of her singing. That will be funny.”  
“Make sure her gun isn’t within reach. Make her sit around naked.”  
“I think that won’t be necessary.”  
“Not? You could send me a photo…both of you sitting naked in the room. I would put it on my wall.”  
“In your dreams.”  
“I’ll give you one of me in return.”  
“Thanks for the offer but no thank you.”  
“I tried.”  
“Are all Australian men that straight forward?”  
“Why waste any time? No.” He laughed. “Just kidding. We can be very polite and real gentleman.”  
“But?”  
“But you save a lot of time when you come straight to the point.”  
“You might end up with a fist in your face or a boot in your crotch.”  
“Yes that can happen, did happen sometimes when I was younger. Nowadays women do see I don’t mean that when I say that and don’t kick and slap immediately. You haven’t done anything to me.”  
“So far. I might have made a plan what I’ll do to you later. You think you’re safe in your bed, I sneak in and torture you.”  
“You’re traveling with a cop.”  
“Even worse, I work for the police department too. I’m a CSI, I know how to cover my traces and I’ll have a perfect alibi from a cop.”  
“You start to scare me.”  
“She likes doing that.” Sofia and Graeme came to them. Sofia got her arm around Sara and took her glass of beer.  
“I liked the last one more.”  
“Carlton Draught.” Wayne said.  
“Whatever. How many beers did you have while I was away?”  
“I let you try all of them. When we’re done with this one we can order a new one.”  
“You could order your own beer.” Graeme suggested.  
“I could but this way I can drink more different types. I need to have a clear head for tomorrow, no hangover. I don’t mind sharing some DNA with Sara.”  
“Neither would I – with both of you.” Wayne grinned.  
“One more sentence like that and you won’t feel like a man for a long, long time.”  
“Ouch. The cop is even more dangerous than the CSI. Graeme, we’ve some dangerous women around.”  
“I told you they’re a number too big for you.”  
“Seems like. It’s a helluver fun with them anyway.”  
“Yes. You think we should take them with us to the next place? This one gets a little bit boring. What do you think, girls?”  
“You guys go, we’ll have another beer and go to bed. It will be an early morning and a late night tomorrow. Our last night in Adelaide.”  
“Nothing to do there.”  
“That’s what people in Sydney and Melbourne said too. There’re museums in Adelaide.”  
“Boooring.” Sofia yawned.  
“A little bit of culture won’t hurt you.”  
“I’d say you let her go to the museum and you’ll go to Glenelg.” Wayne suggested. “The beach there is great and you can enjoy the water. When you take off to the outback now, you won’t see much water anymore.”  
“True. Beach instead of museum, I like that.”  
“Okay we’ll go to the beach.” Sara gave in.  
“That’s my girl.” Sofia hugged her.  
“It was my idea, where’s my hug?”  
“Ask your friend.” Sofia grinned and kept Sara in her arms. It wasn’t her job to hug men she had met only this evening and it was Sara who would come with her to the beach. And then they were ready for the great big outback. 

Part 3

The desert in Nevada was big, it was easy to lose your way there. The Australian outback was different. It seemed to be impossible not to get lost in here. And nobody seemed to be there. They had been on the road since the early morning and since Sara had taken over the steering wheel an hour ago they haven’t seen a car around.  
“Spooky.”  
“Makes me wonder if we’re really on a highway.”  
“Or on a dead road.” Sofia changed the CD. There was no radio station and the cell phone they had bought in Sydney because their own cell phones didn’t work here, was out of signal even longer.  
“How much water do we have?” They had heard enough stories of people who got lost in the outback and ran out of water and died of thirst.  
“I bought ten liters, which is around two and a half gallon.”  
“Plus the juice, we should be fine for two days. Or three.”  
“Don’t try. I’m glad when we arrive in Dubbo.”  
“So am I. Broken Hill was quite a detour but it was worth going there.”  
“Absolutely. I loved our day trip.” They had booked a day trip from the motel they had stayed in. At five in the morning the tour guide got them out in the cold morning and out of town into the outback. In the Broken Hill Sculpture Symposium they watched the sunrise. Twelve sculptures made of sandstone by different artists all over the world gave the perfect background for photos.  
On their way back to Broken Hill they saw a lot of kangaroos and emus and the tour guide had stopped so that everybody could take pictures from car because they weren’t allowed to go out. An attack of an emu wasn’t something the guide wanted to responsible for.  
“I saw snakes, dragons, kangaroos, emus and my beloved koalas. Are there any other lovely animals, Australian animals, I need to see?”  
“Magpie.”  
“A pie?”  
“No, niot a pie, a bird.”  
“Oh, the colorful one? With these amazing red and green coloring? The birds we saw when we saw the koalas?”  
“No a magpie is black and white, the nasty ones that attack you.”  
“The big birds?”  
“Yes, they are quite big for an ordinary bird. I’m sure we’ll see them again. You didn’t see a crocodile.”  
“They’re not typical Australian and I don’t want to see them. Like snakes they are not on my ‘I like you’ list. I prefer something more cute.”  
“Echidna.”  
“Bless you.”  
“Stupid woman.”  
“How do they look?”  
“Like a hedgehog. But they are not related.”  
“I can’t remember that I saw a hedgehog that isn’t one. Oh, my dingo, I almost forgot my watchdog.”  
“You were too sleepy.”  
“Yeah, pity. So I need to see this hedgehog thing. What else?”  
“We probably saw Wallabies and thought they’re kangaroos.”  
“Yeah, they look the same. We need to find Nemo.”  
“Dory.”  
“Okay, we’ll have a look for her when we’re back in Sydney.”  
“I’d like to see a Tasmanian Devil.”  
“Do they look like Taz?”  
“Uhm no, but they do make that much noise. I saw them on TV once.”  
“We need to go to Tasmania for them?”  
“Yes.”  
“Mhm, next time. We need more time for this country. Maybe we should take a sabbatical.”  
“And who pays for all the things we want to see?”  
“We need to start gambling.”  
“I don’t think that will help.”  
“Neither do I. So more work, a sabbatical and we’ll make a world trip.”  
“Sounds good. When we start saving money now we might be able to leave when we’re fifty.”  
“I don’t even want to think of that time. Fifty. Old. Awful.” Sofia shook her head in disgust and then started smiling. “We’ll be married for ten years by then.”  
“Or divorced.”  
“And remarried to Mister Right. That’s fine with me too. As long as we’re both happy.”  
“We’ll work on that.” Sara blinked at her best friend. Whatever they would do, whatever would happen to them, they would work out everything together. 

“Are you happy now, lieutenant?”  
“Yes.” They were on the beach of Port Macquarie, feet buried in sand, heads on their backpacks, shades on and enjoying the sun. Sofia had seen her beloved koalas, she wasn’t allowed to touch them, but one elderly lady had taken a lot of time for Sofia and Sara showed them everything, told them stories about the koalas they had in the hospital.  
It had broken Sofia’s heart when she saw a photo of a koala which fur was burnt to ninety percent. It was a wonder that he had survived and she was happy when she saw ‘Billy’ in a tree, eating eucalyptus. He was fine again but needed some more time to get fit for his old life back in the forest.  
Burnt koalas, koalas that got hit by cars and attacked by dogs were a lot in the hospital. The lady told them that some koalas fell in pools and drowned there because they had no chance to get out. Only when the owner left a thick rope on one end, the koala was able to climb out. If there a was an angry dog waiting, everything was worthless.  
“I was so close to a koala. They are cute.” Sofia turned so that she could see Sara. “Do you go with me to the zoo in Vegas?”  
“Do they have koalas?”  
“I don’t know, I think so.”  
“I go to the zoo with you, Sofia.”  
“Thanks.”  
“You’re cute.”  
“Huh? Why?”  
“You want to go to the zoo.”  
“I like bears. When I’m a mother my child will be on a regular base in the zoo and in national parks.”  
“You really like the idea of becoming a mother, don’t you?”  
“Yes…you think I’m a good mother?”  
“You are very dedicated to everything you’ve done so far, I think you’ll be a great mother.”  
Two more years…or three…in two years was the wedding.”  
“I hope you’ll find a man until then.”  
“So do I. Luigi was cute but too young and he didn’t want children. Pity.”  
“You need a man in Las Vegas, lieutenant.”  
“I know. We definitely have to go out more often.”  
“We will.”  
“And I need a dog.”  
“Wasn’t the dingo enough?” Sara grinned. When Sofia woke up the last night at the campsite there was a wild dingo next to her. According to the blonde, the wild dog was very interested in Sara and her swag. Unfortunately it was shy and ran away before Sofia could take a photo but seeing the dingo had put a smile on her face.  
“I want the whole family picture…oh god I’m becoming a house wife.”  
“Sounds like. You’ll be busy with the house instead of becoming a captain.”  
“My mom managed both I can do the same.”  
“I know.”  
“Do you want to be the godmother?”  
“Would you like me to be the godmother?”  
“Yes.”  
“Then I’ll be the godmother.”  
“Perfect. Now I need a man…if there’s no decent guy around in the next two years I need some guy and be a single mom.”  
“Did nobody told you to practice safe sex with strangers?”  
“Tell me how I get pregnant with I’ve safe sex.”  
“That’s what hospitals are for.”  
“Why do you have to be so damn sensible?”  
“Because I’m right.”  
“Okay IV…damn I really hope I’ll find a father for my child. And a husband for me. Would be nice if it’s the same person.”  
“I thought you were thinking of the same person as a husband and a father for your child. Seems like I’m very old-fashioned.”  
“Yes you are. I like that.”  
“Keane was on a charity…”  
“Don’t go on, Sara. Not him.”  
“He would like to have you in his bed.”  
“I haven’t heard from in weeks and I’m more than happy about that. Okay, not him. Somebody else.”  
“Greg is available.”  
“He’s cute.” Sofia grinned. “But he still has a thing for you, love.”  
“Nick?”  
“No, he’s too ordinary. I need some….I don’t know, there has to be something special about him.”  
“So why do you want me as a backup plan?”  
“You are very special, Sara.”  
“We’ll find you a man; and me too.”  
“We will. One like…the one who’s jogging there.” Sofia pointed to a man who was running towards them.  
“Sporty…wait a minute.” Sara could see two guys following the man. “They look like police and if he’s running…he’s…” She couldn’t finish the sentence. Sofia had seen the same and came to the same conclusion. Within a second she was on her feet, pretended to walk slowly to the man to jump at him when he was close enough. Surprised by the attack he fell in the sand found his arms pressed on his back and Sofia’s knee next to his arms.  
“What the…”  
“Don’t move, I’m a lieutenant, I can break your arms within a second.”  
“Get off, bitch.”  
“And I thought Aussies are nice. You’re the first rude one. Oh well, the first thief I met too.” He tried to move and Sofia pressed his arms a little bit higher that he moaned of pain.  
“Ma’am, what are you doing?” The to police officers finally arrived at the scene.  
“Lieutenant Curtis, LVPD. I thought I help you catching a running suspect. He’s all yours.”  
The older officer got down and handcuffed the man.  
“All yours.” Sofia got up. Meanwhile Sara was at the scene.  
“Thanks Ma’am, but it’s dangerous.”  
“I know, but I thought I stop him, he was quite ahead.”  
“You’re not supposed to catch thieves in Australia, Sofia. This isn’t your district. It’s not Las Vegas.”  
“You two are from Las Vegas?” The younger one asked.  
“Yes. On holidays.”  
“Seems like you can’t get away from crime. You didn’t stop a thief, you stopped a murder suspect.”  
“What is it with you and murder?” Sofia turned and looked at Sara. “You draw murder like moths to the flame. Can’t you stay away from killer for two weeks?”  
“You jumped at him.” Sara grinned. “Not me.”  
“You’re a lieutenant too?”  
“No, CSI. That’s why I let her catch him. Suspect on the run is the police’s job.”  
“We appreciate your help but we need you to come to the police station and get a statement.”  
“Of course. We can do that. I get our stuff.” Sofia looked at the suspect. “You know, running away on the beach is not very clever. No chance to hide.” She shook her head. Some people were too stupid to run away. A few thousands years ago people like that would have end up as a dinner for a wild animal. Sometimes she wished the old days back. 

“We almost managed to have holidays without a crime.”  
“Almost.” Sara took Sofia’s hand. They were in the plane, ready to take off and leave Australia. Knowing how uncomfortable the blonde was at take offs, Sara held her hand in case the plane shook a little bit.  
“You’re a hero in Australia now.”  
“All I did was stopping a running suspect. Nothing big.”  
“If he was the killer they were looking for, it was something big.”  
“We’ll see, they promised to tell me how it ends.”  
“Maybe they offer you a job there.”  
“A job? In Port Macquarie? So far away from you? Never. They need to take you too, otherwise I’ll stay in Sin City.”  
“That’s where we belong.”  
“Do you miss the team?”  
“Yes.” Sara sighed. She didn’t think she’d miss her colleagues in two weeks but she did. It was strange not to go to work and not to have her colleagues and friends around. She was happy to be back on the job soon.  
“Your place or mine?”  
“Huh?”  
“When we’re back.”  
“You at your place I’m at mine?”  
“You want to get rid off me?”  
“I spent two weeks with you isn’t that enough?”  
“No, not for me? For you?”  
“I can never get enough of you.” Sara grinned.  
“My place. We have a long sleep, something to eat and I’ll drive you back home. And then it’s time to catch bad guys again. You think I can use Port Macquarie as overtime?”  
“I doubt they’ll do that.”  
“Yeah, it was a hobby. So tell me, Sara, what was your personal highlight of this trip?”  
“You.”  
“If you ever complain that I’m smug I want to remind you, sentences like that won’t stop me from being self-aware.”  
“Smuggy.”  
“Grumpy Smurf.”  
“The Twelve Apostle or the Great Ocean Road. These place was amazing, I loved the lookouts and the sunset was wonderful. Seeing how fast the sun vanished in the water, how the Apostle changed their color within seconds, it’s an amazing natural spectacle. Yours?”  
“The koalas. I love these cute gray teddy bears, this black nose and they look so friendly. The three hours in the koala hospital were my highlight. And of course becoming a godmother of ‘Teresa’.” Sofia had adopted a koala. She’d pay some money and with this money the medicine would be paid for her ‘own’ koala Teresa. Teresa had been a victim of a bush fire and her fur was fifty percent burnt. If she recovered good she could leave the hospital in a few months. Sofia hoped her koala would be alright and had a long life.  
“What about the dingo?”  
“He was cute too but you know, it has always been the koalas.”  
“Yeah, way in front of the kangaroos…I can’t believe you ate kangaroo steak!”  
“It was good.” Sofia mumbled and made sure there was no angry Australian around. Some of them didn’t like it when you eat the kangaroos. “It tastes like beef, only richer. Better. I know a vegetarian doesn’t want to hear that…”  
“I won’t hate for it.”  
“Thanks.”  
“Would you become a vegetarian if I tell you I can’t be friend with you as long as you go on eating meat?”  
“I could try but I really love my steak and I’d be even more disappointed that you try to blackmail me.”  
“It’s good that you know I won’t do that.”  
“Yes. And I’ll miss Red Rooster, I think it’s better than KFC.”  
“It looked the same.”  
“No, their sauce was better. Anything typical Australian you liked?”  
“They’re not the biggest fans of vegetarian food, I found that out. Seems like to a real barbie you need meat. So it wasn’t special with food for me but I liked the Australian wine. And the cake we had, mars bar cheese cake. That was good.”  
“Oh yes. I wanted a second one.”  
“You always do if it’s sweet and with chocolate.”  
Sofia grinned. Yes, maybe she was a chocoholic.  
“You enjoyed the holidays?” Sara asked.  
“Absolutely. Sara Sidle, you’re qualified for another holiday. Where would you like to go next? I guess the next half a year we won’t get two weeks off, but we can start to plan for the next year. Anywhere special you want to see?”  
“Europe?”  
“I had Paris in my mind as a honeymoon destination.”  
“We won’t have a honeymoon, so no Paris. Beach or nature? Culture? History? What would you like, Sofia?”  
“No history. You’ll give me that wherever we are. Nature…how good are you on horse riding?”  
“Me? I’ve never done that.”  
“We need some practice.”  
“Why?” Sara looked suspicious at her friend. What had Sofia in her mind?  
“Two weeks on a horse. One week in Iceland and one week in Scotland.”  
“I thought you were talking about holidays and not torture.”  
“It will be perfect, we’ll see so much nature, can have a bath in the hot springs in Iceland and ride over the highlands in Scotland, just like the Highlander. Maybe we’ll find our own Duncan MacLeod there.”  
“I think we’ve to talk about the trip again when we’re back home. I don’t want to spend two weeks on a back of a horse. I won’t be able to walk and sit after two days.”  
“What do you have in mind?”  
“A tour on a river. The Rhine or the Danube.”  
“Aren’t we too young for that?”  
“It’s about culture and old cities.”  
“You’re right we really need to talk about that trip. Knowing us we’ll find something that will make us both happy. Close your eyes and sleep, Sara Sunshine, I can see you’re tired.”  
“What about you?”  
“I’ll take care of you.”  
“You should sleep too. I’ll hold your hand and nothing will happen.”  
“You think?”  
“Yes.” Sara got her second pillow and put it on her shoulder for Sofia. “Come on, have a nap on me.”  
“Okay.” Sofia chuckled. How could she refuse this offer?


End file.
